Sunday, 4 June 2006
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| Antioxidants and Asthma Bob 17:52:18 |
| |
Here's an interesting tidbit from May's issue of Thorax
which suggests a dietary role of antioxidants in asthma.
http://thorax.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/61/5/388
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| |  1 answer | Add comment |
|
| Science Creates The HypoAllergenic Cat Steven L. 06:01:22 |
| | The Sunday Times June 04, 2006
Clinical kitty: science comes up with the non-allergy cat
Jonathan Leake and Jonathan Milne
It is not to be sneezed at. Breeders have solved a main drawback to
owning a cat by producing a hypoallergenic kitten that saves its owner
from sniffles, tears and asthma attacks.
An American company claims its scientists have bred the world’s first
cats that cannot trigger human allergies and is now set to sell them in
the UK for ВЈ7,500 each.
The cat is the latest designer pet to emerge from America and could
provide relief for the 2.6m UK asthma sufferers whose attacks are
triggered by their animals. Research published last month found that
babies may be at 50% greater risk of developing eczema if their family
has a cat.
Megan Young, chief executive of Allerca Lifestyle Pets, the company
behind the allergy-free cat, said: “For the first time, people who have
allergies will be able to keep a cat without suffering. This is a
scientific breakthrough.”
Cat allergies are caused by a protein in the cat’s skin flakes and
saliva deposited on the fur when the animal grooms itself by licking. It
can trigger an allergic reaction in minutes if breathed by an asthma
sufferer.
Scientists at Allerca, based in San Diego, analysed the genes of British
and American shorthair cats to identify those with proteins that did not
provoke a reaction in humans. By breeding the cats over several
generations they produced more than 20 allergy-free offspring.
According to Allerca, preliminary tests on human volunteers have proved
encouraging. The Scripps Research Institute, a California medical
research group, is now carrying out controlled trials.
http://tinyurl.com/hlj2j
[
Well, it's not as exciting as re-creating dinosaurs in Jurassic Park,
but it's a lot more useful.
]
--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
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| | Add comment |
Friday, 2 June 2006
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| Blood in Urine--results Jason Johnson 23:45:15 |
| | Red Blood Cells were found in my urine and my doctor
referred me to a urol. This is what happened:
A urologist examined me today in relation to the Red
Blood cells that were found in my urine. These are
the results:
1. The nurse told to provide a urine sample and I
complied. The urologist later examined the urine
under a microscope and found no evidence of blood.
I told him that I had some of the signs of kidney
disease and felt that may have been the reason for
the blood in the urine. He reviewed about a dozen
blood and urine tests and also asked me about a dozen
questions related to the major symptoms of kidney
disease. It was his conclusion that I do not have
kidney disease but that I may develop kidney problems
within the next ten years: These were the three reasons
that he mentioned:
1. Edema--he called it "postural hypotention"
2. blood in the urine
3. Salt Sentitive--Blood pressure problems/Edema related to normal amounts
of salt.
He said that as long as my serum creatinine remained at 1.1 MG/DL or below that
I did not have to be concerned about kidney disease. I told him that I was
eating a
low protein diet and a salt resticted diet. He told me that it was a great
idea and to
continue that diet.
He checked my prostate gland and said that it was slightly enlarged
and there were no nodules (spelling??). He said that most men that were
55 years old had slighly enlarged prostate glands so it was nothing to be
concerned about.
I have to provide two other urine samples on different dates--the second
urine of the day. I asked him why he did not want the first urine of the day?
He said that he was looking only for blood cells and that it was difficult to
find blood cells in the first urine of the days due to the thousands of
particles in
the first urine of the day. I forgot to ask him about a dipstick test on that
urine. He plans to look at the urine under a microscope.
He advised me NOT to make a diagnosis of my medical problems based on
information
that I learned from the internet or books. I did not mention to him that
various people
told me the same thing in this and other newsgroups.
I was hoping that he would arrange for me to get an abdominal ultrasound
but he did not
mention it--perhaps because he did not find any blood in the urine that he
checked.
He did not ask my opinions about any tests or exams that I wanted to
have--it was obvious
that he wanted to make all decisions in relation to those things.
He seemed to be a typical "old school" doctor that does not want patients
to make any decisions related to treatment options. If he had asked--I was
going to request an abdominal ultrasound; urine cultured test; and new PSA
test
Thanks again for those people that provided advice.
Jason
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| | 4 answer | Add comment |
Wednesday, 31 May 2006
|
| Clean the Air - CBS News Reports on effective EcoQuest Air Purification System Allergy Relief 14:12:16 |
| | Clean the air
Posted: 5/16/2006 5:28:59 PM
Article:
http://www.whptv.com/WHPHealth/story.aspx?content_id=7B34A7F0-F79C-4D63-873C-C9DD1E76B52E
News Video Segment:
http://www.whptv.com//mediacenter/default.aspx?videoId=94941
Add kids to that mixture and you have yourself a hotbed of germs,
bacteria, viruses and allergies. The staff at a local pre-school and
daycare says these annoyances have been significantly decreased thanks
to a new air filter system.
Teacher Laurel Ramos:
"Once that system was in place, I noticed it right away. I don't blow
my nose nearly as much, I don't cough"
Laurel Ramos is a teacher at the Goddard School in Mechanicsburg --
where owners Nancy and Ken Goss installed a new air purifier. It's
called the Fresh Air system by Eco-quest and it uses high intensity UVX
light with a specially developed rare metal hydrophilic coating -- and
a bunch of other technologies that I don't understand.
But, what does make sense to me and the staff at Goddard is this daily
illness log. Shannon Murphy, director of the school took a look at a 3
week period in March and counted 40 illnesses -- about 2 to 5 kids per
day. That was BE - or before EcoQuest. After the system was installed,
she counted only 12 to 14 illnesses in a 3 week period.
In fact, the Goss' installed the system because the owners of other
schools say they saw the same success.
Nancy Goss:
"During flu season, they quoted me maybe 25 - 30 kids out of a 3
month period would be sick say last year for example, and then this
year they saw maybe 5 or 10"
And the effect isn't just felt by the kids.
Teacher Rose Gustkey:
"Before the system was in place I used to come to work stuffy and
throat would be sore, now things are so much better, I come to work and
breath and it's not until come outside I start sneezing"
Since the system parents and teachers talk about how fresh the air
smells, but our cameras can't pick that up One tangible piece of
evidence comes from the need for boxes of tissues, or lack there-of
Shannon Murphy:
"Normally I'm buying cases, and this time I think I ordered one
case"
Teacher Sherrie Swartz:
"I've been constantly coming in with colds it has made a difference
in myself and my children, they're not using as many tissues every
day."
So is it the power of suggestion -- or do air filter systems really
help. Judith Gostin, an Industrial Hygienist with the Pennsylvania
Department of Health says yes -- as long as they are installed
correctly, and maintained properly -- which includes periodic cleaning
and changing.
"Filters are really quite vital for improving overall indoor air
quality and certainly filtering out pollen mold spores, dust and dirt
of all kinds"
As for germs, well, Gostin says it's really difficult to prevent kids
from spreading germs, but the basic hygiene rules of washing hands
frequently, disinfecting surfaces and no sharing utensils and pacifiers
will help cut down on germs.
And that has everyone at The Goddard school flipping with delight.
--------------------------------------------
About EcoQuest International
EcoQuest is dedicated to improving the spaces where people live by
providing innovative products and services designed to enhance and
improve the quality, safety, convenience, and beauty of living indoors.
For more information about EcoQuest International and the Fresh Air
product, visit: http://www.tryfreshair.com
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| | Add comment |
|
| asthma and endotoxin and list of banned Ozone Machines Joe 12:52:29 |
| | Exposure to endotoxin, a bacterial substance found commonly in outdoor and
indoor air, makes mite-allergic asthmatics more sensitive to house dust and
may place them at increased risk of asthma attack
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031210073755.htm
list is here
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/o3g-list.htm
and consumer reports
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/cr-05-2005.pdf
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| | 14 answers | Add comment |
|
| particulate pollution is causing disabilitypayments McS 07:29:48 |
| | a.. Hundreds of community health studies have linked daily increases in
particle pollution to reduced lung function, greater use of asthma
medications, and increased rates of school absenteeism, emergency room
visits, hospital admissions, and premature death.iv
a.. In people with heart disease, very short-term exposures of one hour to
elevated fine particle concentrations have been linked to irregular heart
beats and heart attacks.v
a.. Long-term epidemiological studies have repeatedly demonstrated that
people living in areas with high fine particle concentrations have an
increased risk of premature death compared to those in cleaner cities.vi
The risk of dying early from cardio-respiratory diseases and lung cancer is
higher in more polluted areas.vii Lives might be shortened by one to two
years on average.viii
a.. Fine particle pollution is especially harmful to people with lung
diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, because particles can
aggravate these diseases.ix Exposure to fine particle air pollution can
trigger asthma flare-ups and cause wheezing, coughing, and respiratory
irritation in individuals with sensitive airways.x People with heart
disease such as coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure and
people with diabetes are at risk of serious cardiac effects.xi
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| | 3 answer | Add comment |
Sunday, 28 May 2006
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| Nothing seems to work for my severe Asthma Miles 14:04:05 |
| | I have very severe Asthma. It effects me 24/7 and has been that way for
about 20 years now. I've been to several Dr.'s and all pretty much take
the same route. Load me up with pills, inhalers etc. Nothing has ever
made much of a difference.
I have been on Advair 500mg but have stopped after the warnings came
out. I believe Advair helped a slight amount. I started Spirava which
maybe helping but have to use a bit longer to really tell.
I've tried Asmacort, Singular, Flovent, Serevent, and a long list of
other drugs with virtually zero improvement.
For most of the 20 years my asthma has been uncontrolled. Albuterol
helps but often only for a short period (30 minutes or less). Even
strong doses of Medrol or Prednisone have little effect.
I have been on Xolair injections for 2 years now. It seems to have
reduced the number of very severe days and ER visits but has not
improved my day to day health.
Anyone else here with very severe asthma where most typical asthma drugs
do very little? If so, what have you done to control your asthma? I've
heard people mention Asmanex. I am not familiar with that. Is there
much success with it where other meds have failed?
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| | 53 answer | Add comment |
|
| WebMD.com validates Ozone Purifiers are Safe! Guest 09:54:55 |
| | Excerpts from WebMD Article dated 5/11/06 Written by Daniel DeNoon
and reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Ozone Purifiers are NOT Ozone Generators!
Included in the study were several ionic air purifiers made by The
Sharper Image, including the popular Ionic Breeze Quadra. These
machines produce detectable levels of ozone. But they did not emit
dangerous levels of ozone, except when a Quadra model intended for a
large room was tested in a tiny bathroom.
Whatever ozone comes from ionic air purifiers pales in comparison to
the amount produced by ozone-generating air purifiers. These machines
make ozone for one reason: That's what they are designed to do.
By contrast, the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Quadra model -- an ionic
air purifier, not an ozone generator -- built ozone to a maximum level
of 40 parts per billion (ppb) in a large office. The FDA considers
medical devices safe if they emit less than 50 ppb of ozone. The World
Health Organization considers eight-hour ozone levels of 60 ppb to be
acceptable.
Mark Connelly, senior director of appliances and home improvement for
Consumer Reports, oversees the magazine's air-cleaner tests. "You don't
want to say that anything that generates ozone is bad," Connelly tells
WebMD. "A printer produces ozone, but just because printers sit on
people's desks doesn't mean they should be taken off the market...."
Whatever ozone comes from ionic air purifiers pales in comparison to
the amount produced by ozone-generating air purifiers. These machines
make ozone for one reason: That's what they are designed to do.
"Sharper Image products were included in the study and, in fact, met
all safety standards for ultra-low trace ozone emissions when the
appropriate-sized models were used in the manufacturer-recommended room
sizes," Stephens tells WebMD. "Why they chose to place the unit in a
room size for which it is clearly not intended nor used is
inexplicable."
Nizkorodov says he thinks California will set a limit on how much ozone
a device will be allowed to generate. He guesses the limit will be
between 10 and 100 milligrams of ozone per hour -- and his bet is on
the lower limit. His study found that the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze
Quadra puts out 2.2 milligrams of ozone per hour -- far below the
lowest limit California is likely to set.
Complete WebMD Article:
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/122/114532.htm
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| | 3 answer | Add comment |
Saturday, 27 May 2006
|
| Harvard Professor comments on Ozone Air Purifiers...calls them safe! Guest 08:46:38 |
| | Dr. Harriet Burge's response to the UC Irvine study:
Comments by Dr. Harriet Burge on the paper "Quantification of Ozone
Levels in Indoor Environments Generated by Ionization and Ozonolysis
Air-Purifiers" from the University of California, Irvine:
Academic scientists in their "protective" environments tend to assume
that for-profit businesses are primarily interested in the bottom line,
and only secondarily in effects on people. When we design studies on
specific products, we tend to test the hypothesis that whatever health
or exposure effect we suspect is, in fact, present. We should, however,
be testing the null hypothesis: that the product is not producing the
effect we suspect.
The recent article on ozone generation by air cleaners (Quantification
of ozone levels in indoor environments generated by ionization and
ozonolysis air-purifiers by Britigan et al) is a case in point.
Although the paper is well-written and the study carefully done, it
does appear to test the hypothesis that the "air cleaners" produce
inappropriate concentrations of ozone. They should have tested the null
hypothesis (that the cleaners do not produce ozone). Clearly, when used
as directed, the SI cleaners did not produce inappropriate ozone
concentrations in their studies. Their tables make clear that under
conditions of use suggested by the manufacturer ozone concentrations
remain low (less than 22ppb). The only elevated concentration they
report was obtained by using a large room sized unit inappropriately in
a very small bathroom with no ventilation. It is noteworthy that they
did not use the SI units in Office B, possibly because they suspected
that little ozone would be recovered.
The SI Quadra and other electrostatic air cleaners are not designed
specifically to produce ozone as are the "ozonolysis" units. The
studies in this paper actually document that the SI air cleaners do not
lead to unacceptable ozone concentrations when used appropriately.
Unfortunately, the overall impression given by this article is that the
SI units are the same as the"ozonolysis" units. This conclusion is
clearly supported by the plethora of comments on the internet.
I have personally evaluated the SI electrostatic precipitators and
reviewed testing performed by the manufacturer. I have no hesitation
about using them in my own home. Even in my smallest bedroom (7x10ft)
ozone levels do not reach the odor threshold, which is well below any
health related guideline.
Harriet A. Burge PhD
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health
Director of Research and Development, Environmental Microbiology
Laboratory
http://www.sharperimage.com/SharperImageIonicResponse.html#harriet
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| | Add comment |
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| UC Irvine Peer Reviewed Article States Ozone Air Purifiers are Safe! Guest 08:45:33 |
| | Letter to The Sharper Image from Sergey A. Nizkorodov, the author of
the UC Irvine study:
From: Sergey Nizkorodov
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:36 PM
To: Michelle Arney
Cc: Sergey Nizkorodov
Subject: Re: Your ozone study
Dear Ms. Arney,
Thank you very much for your letter of May 10, 2006.
My understanding is that Rob Britt had not seen a copy of my article,
"Quantification of ozone levels in indoor environments generated by
ionization and ozonolysis air-purifiers", which was recently published
in the peer-reviewed Journal of American Waste and Management
Association, before he wrote the piece(s) about which you are
complaining.
I am just as disappointed as you are about the inaccuracies in Mr.
Britt's article. He informs me that he has now read my article and is
in the process of revising his piece(s), as you apparently requested he
do.
I hope this e-mail answers your question.
Sincerely yours,
Sergey Nizkorodov
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
1102 Natural Sciences II
University of California at Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-2025
Sergey Nizkorodov
Department of Chemistry
1102 Natural Sciences II
University of California at Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-2025
Office: RH377 Labs: RH385, RH350, RH512
Web: http://aerosol.chem.uci.edu/
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| | Add comment |
|
| The Truth Behind Ozone Machines! Guest 08:30:43 |
| | I will like to address this OZONE topic.
For starters, Robert Britt article was incorrect. There has been a
correction made to his article. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12707280/
EPA uses data that is old that is unreliable. In fact, on the website
they even reference a source that goes back to 1913! On top of that,
the data that is used is based off of older data. The most recent year
of "study" was over a decade ago. A lot has happened since then!
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html#bibliography
I am sure you may not know this, but Ozone is NOT bad. There is always
ozone around us. Without it, we would all be dead.
Dr. James Marsden (Bio: http://tinyurl.com/mvzon) a Regents
Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University is an expert in this
field. He is even briefs congress on his research. (Marsen addresses
congress: http://tinyurl.com/jcknc) Marsden is a member of the Food
Safety Consortium (http://www.uark.edu/depts/fsc/). When he talks,
people listen.
Dr. Marsden has addressed this topic in a piece called, "Ozone Used For
Air Purification", you can read it by clicking here:
https://www.secure-session.com/files/16/916650/606591502/A99A0781A3/i/OzoneUsedForAirPurification.pdf
Further, Dr. Marsden was interviewed on this topic. This is a very
interesting interview as he addresses this topic head on.
Dr. Marsden answers the question, "Is Ozone Bad for you?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33dU4zPzpFo
The Unknown Truth Regarding Ozone!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydb2_pyZeJk
Dr. Marsden on the safety of the Purifiers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3noyHesbeTA
Kansas State University Studies Support Purifiers!
(This contradicts what the outdated EPA has to say, "ozone has little
potential to remove indoor air contaminants".)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKZx_RWjlDI
CBS News Features Air Purification Technology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHLkfdWH7Ec
Last but not least, Harvard Senior Lecturer, Dr. Harriet A. Burge,
Ph.D. is also quoted as stating that she "no hesitation about using
them in my own home". Read it for yourself:
http://www.sharperimage.com/SharperImageIonicResponse.html#harriet
Doesn't stop there, UC Irvine was upset with Robert Britt. They are
quoted as saying, "I am just as disappointed as you are about the
inaccuracies in Mr. Britt's article." (Full statement here:
http://www.sharperimage.com/SharperImageIonicResponse.html#letter)
If these types of purifiers are good enough for UC Irvine, a Harvard
Ph.D and a Regents Distinguished Professor who is counsel to the Unites
States congress, I guess they are safe for my home as well.
PS: Not to mention all of talk about "bad ozone" comes strictly from
the EPA. This is NOT the first time the EPA has mislead us. Remember
this?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/09/national/main567489.shtml
Judge Blasts EPA!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/02/health/main1276366.shtml
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| | Add comment |
Friday, 26 May 2006
|
| Dust mask advice SteveJ 21:38:15 |
| | I recently started a new job within the company I've worked at for six
years.
The job was advertised as a floor cover and window dressing measurer\
estimator.
Since starting this job my employers have decided that they need me to
cut carpets on a daily basis.
I pointed out the fact that I'm asthmatic and this would be a problem
for me.
They said they would take medical advice but in the meantime I would
have to cut them. I cut carpets for two days solid and have now had to
take time off because my breathing became laboured and painful.
Anyway I've a feeling that when I return to work they will still want
me to cut the carpets, So I will need a good quality dust mask
suitable for asthmatics and that won't inhibit my breathing.
The ones I've used around the house when painting or sanding are only
suitable to wear for short periods in my experience.
Any help appreciated
Steve
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| | 9 answers | Add comment |
|
| Quackery Mgb 20:10:45 |
| | As a board certifed allergist, I am appalled at what the American Public
falls for. Many would rather believe a 30 min infomercial by a
discredited author out to sell a book with no information other than
innuendo and the unsupported claims.
A great web site that deals with "questionable" medical claims is
www.quackwatch.com
|
| | 21 answer | Add comment |
|
| REPOST:Rate your Asthma-related quality of life Ph.D. M.M.Murawski 20:09:29 |
| | This is a repost - I'd like to add to the message below that
if you find the site interesting, please share it with others,
post it on web-pages, etc. We hope to gather a large number
of reponses in order to better understand how those with asthma feel
about treatment.
Thank you.
For those who suffer from asthma-
We are performing a study, based out of the Purdue University School of
Pharmacy, looking at what people with asthma might feel improvements in
their health are worth, in terms of time or money. This research has been
approved by Purdue University's Committee for Research on Human Subjects.
In order to accomplish this we have created a website that we believe
people with asthma or breathing issues might find of interest. If you
visit
our site you will have an opportunity to answer questions about how much
you would value hypothetical asthma treatment interventions. While doing
so, you will also complete a well-validated quality of life in asthma
questionnaire, which will be scored automatically. You will be able to
compare your score to several other population samples, which will give
you
an idea of how you are doing, in terms of your asthma-related quality of
life. The whole process should take 10-15 minutes, depending on the
speed
of your connection and how you answer questions. We believe this will be
of
great interest to anyone with asthma. I invite you to visit our website
to
see for yourself all that we are trying to accomplish with our project.
(http://surveys.pnhs.purdue.edu/index.php?sid=10&token=)
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at
murawski@p.p.edu
(Replace the p.p in the above address with pharmacy.purdue to reach me)
Respectfully-
--
Matthew M. Murawski,R.Ph.,Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration
Department of Pharmacy Practice
Purdue University
R.Heine Pharmacy Building Room 502
575 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette, IN
47907-2051
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| | 1 answer | Add comment |
Wednesday, 24 May 2006
|
| Asthma patients Guest 16:06:00 |
| | Could treating acid reflux actually help control asthma? Doctors know
that not every asthma patient gets acid reflux, so they don't expect it
to help everyone. But they hope it will help some. It will answer the
question of who you should treat if it works, and almost equally
important, who you shouldn't treat or who you shouldn't falsely give
this medicine to thinking it's going to affect their asthma. Getting
the proper medications and educating patients about asthma can save
lives. Every year, about five thousand people die from asthma. Experts
say most of those deaths are preventable. Check out the video about
this study:
http://www.groundhog.tv/apps/editor/staticplayer.jsp?clip=1147464200420.wmv"><img
src="
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| | 65 answers | Add comment |
Tuesday, 23 May 2006
|
| asthma help anyone? D 12:19:09 |
| | i am studying biomedical sciences, and as part of my course i have to
complete a dissertation on asthma.i chose asthma as my six year old son
also suffers from this disease.
i would greatly appreciate if anyone could help me with any useful
information on this?thanks
|
| | 4 answer | Add comment |
|
| inhaled corticosteroids ineffective in infants Alison Chaiken 02:04:57 |
| |
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/354/19/1998
Sorry if someone else has already posted this; I've been on vacation
and haven't yet had a chance to catch up with the group.
--
Alison Chaiken "From:" address above is valid.
(650) 236-2231 [daytime]http://www.wsrcc.com/alison/
Waging a war is simple, but running a country is very difficult.
-- Pham Van Dong, first prime minister of unified Vietnam, 1976
|
| | 3 answer | Add comment |
Monday, 22 May 2006
|
| Re: Alveoli Regrowth Ted Edwards 19:13:42 |
| | mitch wrote:> Does anyone here know whether a study, due to start in England, to> regrow Alveoli is related to the older FORTE study of vitamin A (ATRA,> All Trans Retinoid Acid).
I don't know but you can find quite a number of references by going to
http://www.dogpile.com and search on "regrow Alveoli" without the
quotes, of course. I shall certainly keep an eye on this as
emphysema/copd is my nemesis.
Ted
|
| | 1 answer | Add comment |
|
| Letter to a professor of pharmacy. Was Rate your Asthma-related quality of life Richard Friedel 17:44:53 |
| |
Professor Murawski wrote
"We are performing a study, based out of the Purdue University School
of
Pharmacy, looking at what people with asthma might feel improvements in
their health are worth, in terms of time or money. This research has
been
approved by Purdue University's Committee for Research on Human
Subjects...... The whole process should take 10-15 minutes, depending
on the speed
of your connection and how you answer questions."
Dear Professor,
I think that there are questions of concern to asthmatics with a much
higher priority than your questions - like modern drug-based asthma
treatment being seriously flawed and at loggerheads with scientific
facts.
You seem to be referring to approval by an ethics committee so that
ethics are generally relevant here. I. e. is asthma drug treatment
itself ethical?
That simple basic matters may be left unchecked for long periods of
time is shown by the fact that people took two thousand years to
realise that Aristotle was wrong when he said that men had more teeth
than women.
As regards a similar situation with asthma and breathing the medical
world assumes that any reduction in upper airway cross section actually
hinders respiration as if one were dealing with some simple experiment
in school physics and not a living organism. This doctrine is typified
by the statement that the nose only serves to warm etc. the breathed in
air and does not serve the purpose of producing suction during an
inspiration.
You refer to answering questions only taking a short time and I think
you might give this question some consideration. No longer time should
be necessary.
If you breathe through a gap defined between some round rod about as
thick as a finger and your lips you can hardly fail to note that the
depth of an inhale increases (and does not decrease as might be
expected) with a reduction in the size of the gap providing the vocal
chords are left open and do not confound the effects.
During the maneuver while breathing through the gap the chords will in
any case tend to remain open.
If now the rod is removed the vocal chords will automatically close
somewhat to perform an inhale, but with a little sensitivity one may
keep them open. The result is then that inspiration is inhibited
because inspiratory resistance is minimized and, one might suppose,
inspiratory muscles have no antagonist. This experiment is at least as
foolproof as demonstrating the knee jerk reflex.
This phenomenon is of crucial importance for asthma, since
bronchodilator drugs unload the inspiratory muscles and would,
dependent on the asthmatic's attitude and tactics, weaken them.
There is abundant circumstantial evidence to show that asthma has
increased with modern drug treatment and it is obvious to think of such
increase being due to the treatment.
Consequently a good tactic to reduce asthma incidence would for school
textbooks to stress the respiration-enhancing effect of a reduction in
flow cross section and that, contrary to what seems to be current
medical doctrine, depth of respiration is correlated with airway cross
sections and is not just under the control of the will alone. Regards,
Richard Friedel.
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Thursday, 18 May 2006
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| Increasing lung capacity Guest 22:13:49 |
| | Just as the title says.Is there anyway to do this?
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| | 5 answers | Add comment |
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| Chronic Asthma-->Acute Bronchitis Jed 04:04:09 |
| | I was diagnosed with chronic asthma a few years ago, but so mild that it's
usually not noticeable and regular use of an inhaler wouldn't be
appropriate. However, it's the likely cause of repeated bouts of acute
bronchitis that follows any cold or hay fever attack. Sometimes, the early
use of a Ventolin inhaler is enough to stem the progression. Other times,
like right now, I have to go on a short course of Prednisone (everyone's
favorite drug).
I put a call in to the doc to see about strategies to prevent these
epidodes, which happen 1-2 times a year. In the meantime, I'm wondering if
anyone else has coped with- and resolved- this problem. I've had instant
relief with an Albuterol nebulizer treatment at the clinic, so I was
thinking about asking the doc about that for home use.
Thanks!
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Monday, 15 May 2006
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| re: asthma, or adrenal failure due to asthma inhaler-Advair? Pinkrainbow 15:54:28 |
| | Newbie as of today!)
pinkrainbow2004@yahoo.ca
Hi all, to be succinct, i seem to be going into adrenal failure, very
possibly as a misdiagnosis of asthma, and treated with steroids..details to
follow..it's a tad long, so if not interested, hit
next!..otherwise...thankyou for listening!
history:
-Diagnosed with asthma ,2 yearsago, after frequent bouts of bronchitis,
pneumonia, sob, but mostly wheezing, especially with environmental changes,
exercise, heat waves, etc... and consequent antibiotics.... on ventolin
short-acting inhaler, advair 500mg. twice a day.(and a ton of other stuff,
for pain, thyroid, sleep, etc
-Diagnosed with Addison's disease 4 months ago-my adrenal glands are
shut-down..not producing hormone cortisol, which is necessary to sustain
life, mainly for stress(fight or flight), infections,etc.
I requested referral to respirologist, who said i don't have asthma (based
on the pulmonary function tests, as i did not react to the
asthma-stimulating test(?name)..but, i have narrowing of the vessels, so
cat scan was ordered to rule out emphysema, and/or COPD.
Question:the respirologist said the majority of patients referred by their
gp DO NOT have asthma...then he said the reason i have almost no serum
cortisol(the hormone the adrenal glands, above the kidneys)produce, was that
advair has a steroid component, which tells my body, 'i don't need to
produce cortisol anymore.'...and my adrenal's go into "shutdown"
..so he wants me off it..so he reduced the advair 500mg. to 100mg., starting
immediately...I was scarred of going into addisonian crisis,(the idea is, if
i am off Adair the steroid, my body will tell my adrenals to wake up and
start working)....i think it is too fast, as when i tried the 100mg.this
morning, it felt like nothing, and i am now wheezy, sob, esp. on exertion,
chest tightness...so i phoned him and requested a 'wean', he agreed, (but
within a month!.....250mg. for 2 weeks, then 100mg. for 2 weeks, then
nothing!)
Question- how long do you think is reasonable to wean off advair 500mg.,
after being on it for several years...(to complicate things further, my gp
still thinks i have asthma, just wasn't off the inhalers long enough when
the pulmonary f. tests were done..i was off 24 hours.)
Secondly-if he thinks i may have emphysema(God forbid!yikes!), wouldn't you
still need inhalers?..the cat scan will take months to get in..and i haven't
seen an endo yet..also my gp(main dr., is moving in august, and it is almost
impossible to get a gp in Toronto these days!)
Lastly, Addison's is treated with hydrocortisol(cortef), or
prednisone(synthetic..very strong, and in my opinion dangerous)..i am on
bioidentical hormonal therapy for menopause and hypothyroidism),...
I thought cortef is a long-acting broncho-dilator AND
anti-inflammatory..this was my understanding...i am told, don't worry, when
you stop the inhalers, the cortef will start the adrenals up again, BUT, i
am NOT responding to this drug..my serum cortisol is still very, very
low...zero is addisonian crisis and possible death.
So if your asthmatic, i assume people are on steroid's, do other people not
run into my problem?
I am hoping, that someone here, may' have Addison's and asthma', and know
about the effect of these inhalers on the endocrine system, particularly the
adrenals.
By the way, i also have M.E.(CFS,CFIDS), fibromyalgia, ...perhaps a healthy
person wouldn't have developed these problems..?
So any suggestions, advice, tips, or any feedback at all, even if it telling
me off for bringing a sort-of 'off-topic, atypical post to your group..would
be appreciated...most of this stuff i have to figure out myself these past 4
months...knowledge is power, and if i hadn't seen that specialist, i may
have been treated as an asthmatic in inhalers the rest of my life!
or..perhaps someone else here, has heard of, or gone thru something similar.
Thanks for listening
pinkrainbow
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Tuesday, 9 May 2006
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| Rate your Asthma-related quality of life Ph.D. M.M.Murawski 19:22:48 |
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For those who suffer from asthma-
We are performing a study, based out of the Purdue University School of
Pharmacy, looking at what people with asthma might feel improvements in
their health are worth, in terms of time or money. This research has been
approved by Purdue University's Committee for Research on Human Subjects.
In order to accomplish this we have created a website that we believe
people with asthma or breathing issues might find of interest. If you visit
our site you will have an opportunity to answer questions about how much
you would value hypothetical asthma treatment interventions. While doing
so, you will also complete a well-validated quality of life in asthma
questionnaire, which will be scored automatically. You will be able to
compare your score to several other population samples, which will give you
an idea of how you are doing, in terms of your asthma-related quality of
life. The whole process should take 10-15 minutes, depending on the speed
of your connection and how you answer questions. We believe this will be of
great interest to anyone with asthma. I invite you to visit our website to
see for yourself all that we are trying to accomplish with our project.
(http://surveys.pnhs.purdue.edu/index.php?sid=10&token=)
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at murawski@p.p.edu
(Replace the p.p in the above address with pharmacy.purdue to reach me)
Respectfully-
--
Matthew M. Murawski,R.Ph.,Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration
Department of Pharmacy Practice
Purdue University
R.Heine Pharmacy Building Room 502
575 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette, IN
47907-2051
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